Dubai Police arrest suspect in tax fraud, money laundering cases

A British hedge fund trader has been arrested by Dubai police for dividend tax fraud worth $1.7 billion, Dubai Media Office announced on Friday.

Sanjay Shah, 52, the alleged mastermind behind the scam, was wanted in Denmark for the past seven years.

Brigadier Jamal Al Jallaf, director of the General Department of Criminal Investigations, said they cracked down on Shah after receiving an international arrest warrant from Danish authorities.

He will be extradited after due legal process.

A task force of elite officers from the Wanted Persons Department and the Anti-Money Laundering Department tracked Shah’s movement as part of the investigations before his arrest in a Dubai Police raid, said expert Major General Khalil Ibrahim Al Mansouri, Assistant Commander-in Chief for Criminal Investigation Affairs.

Shah’s fraud scheme known as ‘cum-ex’ trading involved submitting thousands of applications to the Danish Treasury on behalf of investors and companies from several countries around the world in order to receive dividend tax refunds,’ Dubai police Brigadier General, Jamal Al Jallaf, said in a statement.

The alleged scam, which ran for three years since 2012, has been described as one of the largest fraud cases in Denmark’s history.

His arrest follows close cooperation between Danish and Emirati authorities following a bilateral extradition treaty signed in March 2022.

Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod said in a Twitter post: ‘We will push for an extradition as soon as possible.’

Danish Justice Minister Mattias Tesfaye said Shah has been sought by prosecutors since 2015 after the Danish treasury was cheated out of a ‘staggering amount’ of money. He was charged with money laundering and defrauding.

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Shah who has maintained his innocence ran a centre for autistic children in Dubai which was shut down in 2020 following Denmark’s bid to extradite him.

Lieutenant General Abdullah Khalifa Al Marri, Commander-in-Chief of Dubai Police has always been keen on maintaining strong, active, and vital communication channels with the world's police and justice agencies to tackle transnational organised crime including financial crimes and fraud.

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